Grace McIntyre never planned to lose her virginity in a seedy motel to the hottie with the eagle tattoo, but she knew Jeff Dayton was The One--until a heart-wrenching goodbye proved he wasn’t. But staying behind in small town Sugar Falls, NH, doesn’t mean Grace hasn’t moved on. She’s a business owner and member of the Civic Pride committee--a responsible adult no longer given to impulsively showing all her cards.
Jeff Dayton left Sugar Falls determined to make something of his life. But after three tours of duty, this Army veteran no longer dreams of faraway places. He’s a small town cop now, keeping the lid on his past and his eccentric family so his sister can win a seat in the state senate. Jeff’s tattoos are covered, his rock-n-roll father is under wraps, and everything is aces… Except his feelings for the free-spirited Grace are anything but contained.
Grace and Jeff have managed to dance around their rocky past since Jeff returned to town. But when they’re thrown together to plan the Harvest Festival, their attraction sparks to life, igniting both old passions and burning regrets. It’s time to let go of the past and search for the strength to begin anew. Because half the fun of the game of love is winning… and the other half is deciding to play.
Cheri Allan writes kissing books about love and other shenanigans from her charming fixer-upper in rural New Hampshire. She is often distracted by social media, reality television, and a menagerie of cats and dogs. If you find her whizzing down the slopes at the nearby mountain with her family or inadvertently killing perennials in her garden, bring her coffee. She will gratefully provide the conversation and chocolate.
Books in her ‘Betting on Romance’ series have been nominated for both the Carolyn Readers Choice Award and the Golden Quill. Cheri Allan romance: because life is short, love is funny, and laughter is everything
Cheri loves to connect with readers! You can visit her website and blog at www.cheriallan.com.
I love a good second chance romance and I enjoyed Deal Me In. It was an easy read with a solid orderly hero and a heroine who was a bit more whimsical and trying to figure things out.
The quick of it is that Grace and Jeff have some past history that left them, well, not totally infatuated with each other. And now that he's come back home to live and work, well, they're having to deal with each other. And not totally loving that either...at first.
I enjoyed these two and their differences in personality. The romance was more them being prickly around each other then finally dealing with their past as teenagers when they messed up and changed everything between them--there's a good chunk of flash back to then. There's little on page steam but that was okay, really. I did like seeing them having to deal with each other and get through the past while working on a town event. There was actually a lot of time with the in their own lives with family/friends/work/etc. Some of that kept me from totally loving the book and just felt like random filler.
Overall, Deal Me In wasn't a bad read but it also didn't totally wow me or leave me scrambling to add the rest of the series to my TBR pile. The writing was simple and not entirely pulled together or tight but it moved along and kept me reading so I can see trying another by the author in the future.
The story has laughs, betrayal, secrets, second chances, sweet love and heartbreak.
If you have not read the below I would recommend reading those books(s) first Luck of the Draw (Betting on Romance, #1) Stacking the Deck (Betting on Romance, #2) All or Nothing (Betting on Romance, #3)
This is Grace and Jeff’s story. Grace and Jeff were in a relationship when they were younger but now they bicker back and forth about everything. There are unresolved issues between the two and until they can talk them out they will not have closure. Even after the past Jeff still wants Grace. How will he be able to get her? What if everything they both believed about the past was wrong? Will the truth make them rethink what happened to them years ago? Do they deserve a second chance? Or do they finally need to just let go? Is the truth the end of them or is it a new beginning?
I recommend this book, this series and the author. Can’t wait for the next book in this series.
The final book in this series and again I see the heroine as the one with all the problems and the hero can do no wrong. When the big secret is finally revealed I was ok, here it comes the big apology he not only slept with her cousin but because he didn't stop and listen to her they lost so much time. Well I was very wrong. Great plot I just think the author needs to give her women a break and even things out, after all he was the one who left the 17 year old alone and pregnant, he listened to his army buddies when they told him to move away from her without letting her explain.
When Grace and Jeff met as teens, it was first love. When they found out there was a child after one night. It was wonderful, but Jeff went into the military after a misunderstanding. Grace ends up looking the baby. Getting back together after 13 years and work out all the misunderstanding was such a challenge. Life is so full of ups and downs. But we can overcome and love again.
This is a second chance romance tale that involves plenty of past hurts, a handful of present embarrassments and lots of friends and family to keep things moving along. I really enjoyed it. The overall feel is warm and heartfelt, while the story itself is enjoyable. This is about more than just the romance, though, and things between Grace and Jeff are quite slow going at times. But if you’re looking for a small town romance that includes an interesting array of characters, then give this a go.
I liked Grace, with her new age shop and her healing circle of friends. It doesn’t filter into every aspect of her life, but I liked the way her differences enhanced her personality – especially when she used it to hide from certain inner truths. She’s a complicated woman who suffered losses at a young age and is rarely truly honest with herself. She is also terribly accident prone and, as funny as some of her mishaps were, I did feel for her when it meant Jeff kept coming to her rescue.
As for Jeff, he’s a less interesting personality, but he’s also a good guy trying to do the right thing for his sister and who has never got over Grace. The romance between them is very wary, with neither wanting to risk their hearts again, yet unable to help themselves. I couldn’t help wanting them to sort out their problems, but appreciated the lack of instant fixes. The tale somehow manages to be emotionally compelling without ever getting too heavy and I found myself reading much later into the night than intended in order to finish it.
So, if you’re looking for an enjoyable romance that balances humour with the hurt, then give this a go. Especially if you like small town tales, second chances and scenes to make you smile. Even though this is the fourth book in this series, this is my first read and I didn’t feel lost at all, so you can jump right in here without any worries. Overall I enjoyed it and I’ll definitely be looking out for more books from this author.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
Loved, loved, loved this story. This is the story of Grace and Jeff, childhood sweethearts who have come face-to-face over a decade later in their hometown of Sugar Falls. They both hurt each other deeply when they were teenagers and when they find that they are more attracted to each other than ever, they struggle to overcome the past to give each other another chance at a future together. The characters are well-developed and you feel the struggle, pain, joy and humor as the story comes together. I found myself staying up way too late so that I could finish this one as I didn’t want wait for the end.
I really liked this book. It was sweet, emotional, heartwarming, and funny with a dash of sexiness on the side. Deal Me In was beautifully written and flowed seamlessly from page to page, making it easy to get lost in it. I felt an instant connection to the Jeff and Grace and the second chance at love they were offered. Get ready... this book is gonna make you swoon and fall in love.
I like Cheri's style of writing, she is so realistic . and I loved Grace and Jeffs story, poor they but finally they admitted that they were the ONES of each other. Grace is very pride girl i would say because she is naive and unteachable... I loved them and I love granma :)) she is very helpful .... want a lot of lovely books from Cheri :* wish you good luck with that :)
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I am SO glad I did! This is an excellent book. Having not read the previous three, I was worried that I would not follow the story as well, but that was definitely not an issue. Although this is the fourth and final book in the series
Absolutely loved this book, as I did the three previous ones in this collection. The joy with these books, you don't need to read the others to y sweat and what's going on. However I would highly recommend you read them all xx
just not for me. Bits that were supposed to be funny, irritated me, and I never really liked either MC...I made it to the end without DNF-ing though, so 2 stars for that.